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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23419867">angel rhetorics &amp; marlboro cigarettes</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/illwoosion/pseuds/illwoosion'>illwoosion</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>ATEEZ (Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>4am drabbles, Ballroom Dancing, M/M, No Smut, angel! hongjoong kinda, be kind n leave a comment or summ idk, highclass!seongjoong, honghwa, my first time writing oneshots hello!, seonghwa waxing poetics, seongjoong, they r In Love your honour, very rushed oops</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 09:22:01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,325</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23419867</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/illwoosion/pseuds/illwoosion</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“why are you so insistent i’m from the clouds?”</p><p>“why are you so insistent you’re not?”</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Kim Hongjoong/Park Seonghwa</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>70</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>angel rhetorics &amp; marlboro cigarettes</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1"> </p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s2"><em>hongjoong is an angel</em>, seonghwa thinks, <em>a visionary; ethereal.</em></span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s2">and if he really isn’t one (like he keeps insisting), then he certainly <em>looks</em> like one now- swathed in white luminescence with a halo shining above his bleached hair, and pearly teeth glinting in the light as he grins up at seonghwa with a squinty-eyed smile.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s2">there is something dreamlike in the way both boys waltz around the ballroom, expensive chandeliers and bottomless champagne glasses delicately framing their view. perhaps, it’s the way hongjoong, in his clandestine white suit, rests his head snugly under seonghwa’s neck that’s making him wax poetics nonstop; more likely, it’s the devilish work of the pinot he’s downed.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s2">under any other circumstance, seonghwa would complain about the creases made on his westwood suit hongjoong would be making as their bodies are pressed up against each other, faces flushed and body heat lulling sleep to dominate the two of them. but in this circumstance, hongjoong could unstitch the damn suit with his bare hands right in front of seonghwa, eye contact never wavering, and, by god, seonghwa would encourage him.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s2">his left hand is fitted meticulously into the curve of his lover's waist whilst his right is entwined with a smaller and daintier hand, his perfectly painted pinky brushing against seonghwa’s knuckle. they’re swept into a sea of a hundred other couples, their dance unmistakable and intricate, but really, it’s just him and hongjoong.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s2">because he’s all that seonghwa needs. for hongjoong, he’d set the world on fire, <em>hell, he’d set himself on fire</em> if that’s what hongjoong wanted. he’d claw his own heart out and shove it into hongjoong’s dainty, innocent hands, and beg him to do whatever he wanted with it, squash it into their bedroom carpet with the sharp heel of his boot if he so desired.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s2">the music grows faster now, a crescendo of limbs; still a waltz but a pace that requires lighter footwork and a clearer state of mind. hongjoong focuses on not treading on seonghwa’s louboutins; seonghwa focuses on hongjoong. they could be dancing in the comfort of their living room for all he knew- lights out and candles lit, legs kicking the sofa and socks sliding on the rug. anywhere with hongjoong was an out-of-body experience taken with a pinch of butterflies pitted in his stomach, and he’s more than okay with that.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s2">maybe, hongjoong should grow feathery angel wings right here in the middle of this grand hall, and fly the both of them out to god knows where. <em>anywhere</em>. hongjoong could fly him to the edge of the world or the end of the universe, and it’d still feel like home.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s2">hongjoong thinks it’s weird when seonghwa voices his angel rhetorics aloud (it’s usually during the latter part of 4am, their limbs entangled under satin sheets, brains mulled over with wine. or, it’s whilst watching the sunrise envelop hongjoong’s side profile as it shines it’s spotlight on the couple on the balcony; one boy looking like the archangel michael himself, the other stubbing out a malboro vintage under smokey gaze). </span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s2">“<em>why are you so insistent i’m from the clouds?</em>” he’ll ask, head tilted, eyebrow cocked, wine glass kissing his lips.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s2">“<em>why are you so insistent you’re not?</em>” seonghwa will retort back, lazy eyes sweeping over the blessed sight before him as he’s done so a billion times and more. </span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s2">(you’d think he’d have gotten used to hongjoong’s idyllic beauty by now, what with dating him for the good part of seven years, yet it still manages to sweep him off of his feet every single time, leaving his heart reeling and himself tumbling head over heals for him over and over <em>and over</em> again.)</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s2">hongjoong always rolls his eyes, takes another sip his cabernet sauvignon, and silently asks for seonghwa to shotgun his secondhand cigarette smoke into his mouth (to which seonghwa always obeys instantly).</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s2">in fact, seonghwa could do with a cigarette right now as he unashamedly drinks up the sight of hongjoong, with his painted pretty-pink lips and eyes brimming with unspoken love. he is <em>breathtaking</em>, and seonghwa needs something to replace his stolen breath and fill up his lungs, wether it be oxygen or cancerous smoke.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s2">the song ends with an acoustic flourish, and whilst the room bursts with applause, seonghwa silently leads hongjoong to the open patio, isolated and shining with twilight. the shift between late night and early morning greets them as both boys inhale the sweet scent of fresh air.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s2">hongjoong reeks of five-course fine-dining meals and oversweetened champagne, and seonghwa no doubt smells the same. yet they cling to each other closely, both pairs of glazed eyes studying the stars above.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s2">hongjoong’s visuals were born from woken sunrises and stolen sunbeams, but the gleaming moonshine that glosses over his porcelain features are a refreshing change in aesthetic, and now he looks more weeping angel than cherub.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s2">his soft skin glistens in the moonlight as seonghwa wordlessly reaches into the blazer pocket of his jacket, pulling out a cigarette box. he lights just one, not two, because he knows hongjoong will only steal a few drags and prefer to breathe in the scent of seonghwa’s secondhand smoke, than hold the weight of his own cigarette.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s2">so he lights a stick, hands it over to the seraph beside him (he always likes to take the first drag, for reasons unknown), and then presses it between his own lips.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s2"><em>inhale, exhale.</em> hongjoong rests his head upon his shoulder (perks of being the shorter boyfriend) and sighs into the crisp, coal night just as seonghwa puffs out misty grey to accompany. he steals his scheduled minutely glance at hongjoong- all plump parted lips and sparkly eyes and subtle mascara. </span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s2">hongjoong is a masterpiece that a price cannot hold down; he’s acrylic that’ll never dry fully on canvas and the bane of seonghwa’s quickened heart.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s2">if he were an artist (he definitely <em>isn’t</em> one- he leaves the crafts to hongjoong), then every canvas he’d ever paint would bear hongjoong’s face, with his soft hair adorned with a fitting halo and pillowy wings that span further out the frame. but then again, no artist could ever pin down the mesmerising beauty hongjoong possesses.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s2">it takes more willpower than seonghwa would like to admit to not kiss hongjoong right here right now, on the patio outside of this high-class dinner party. he can’t, due to the upper status both must maintain for their place in society, but <em>fuck</em>, there isn’t a time where seonghwa has wanted to suck face with his boyfriend more.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s2">“penny for your thoughts?” hongjoong asks with smokey breath. for the sake of humour and at the mercy of the pinot, seonghwa drops a small coin (fished from his trouser pocket) into his hand. it’s a running joke between them, a formality.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s2">“<em>you</em>,” he answers truthfully. hongjoong finds this amusing (his eyes twinkle impishly in the frail moonlight).</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s2">“what about me are you thinking so hard about?” the ends of his mouth quirk up into a smirk that makes seonghwa’s internal battle against kissing him instantly a losing one.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s2">“are you sure you’re not an angel?” he muses, just for the sake of it. hongjoong laughs like he always does (head thrown back, teeth biting tongue, eyes scrunched tight- a scene seonghwa could study for lightyears). he rolls his eyes, and it would’ve gone straight to seonghwa’s crotch, if the way he looked at seonghwa afterward wasn’t dripping with so much fondness.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s2">like some unspoken dance or invisible magnetic force, they turn to face each other, hongjoong’s arms wrapped tightly around the taller’s waist and seonghwa’s arms resting upon his shoulders. he takes one final drag of the marlboro before stubbing it out onto the well-used, conveniently-placed ashtray.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s2">he takes this opportunity to lightly caress hongjoongs back, double-checking the shoulder blades for feathers and whatnot. nothing there, <em>yet</em>.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s2">“you’re <em>my</em> angel, you know that?”</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s2">“sure, seonghwa. <em>anything for you</em>.”</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p3">
  <strong>—</strong>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p3"> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>hello if you’re reading this!!! first of all, why lmao<br/>i’m kidding, thank you if you clicked on this!! i wrote this at 4am, majorly sleep deprived and very lonely so of course i had to write some boys In Love<br/>that’s it really!!<br/>twitter: @jonghocafe<br/>wattpad: @1117MIN<br/>thank u and ily!! &lt;3<br/>(maybe check out my other ateez fics on here!! :P)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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